The worldwide research and development effort on microdevices (e.g., electromechanical, hydromechanical, thermomechanical, electrochemical, thermoelectrical, etc.) has increased dramatically over the past decade. Such devices have found significant use as sensors in automotive and medical applications, with estimates of the global MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) market ranging from $12-14 billion in 2000. However, a far larger untapped potential exists for the use of new micromechanical devices in a variety of advanced applications, such as in: i) medicine (e.g., targeted drug or radiation delivery, rapid clinical and genomic analyses, in vitro sensors, microtools for surgery, micropumps and microvalves, microreactors, etc.), ii) transportation and energy production (e.g., new sensors and actuators for pollution control, enhanced energy utilization, and improved engine performance; microcomponents for automotive, diesel, jet, or rocket engines; microcomponents for turbines used in energy conversion or generation; microreactors, micropumps, microbearings, etc.), iii) communications and computing (e.g., micro-optical devices, microactuators, microswitches, microtransducers, etc.), and iv) the production/manufacturing of food, chemicals, and materials (e.g., microrobotics, rapid on-line microsensors, microreactors, micropumps, microdies, etc.).
Despite the recognized technological and economic significance of new microdevices, the fabrication methods used to date have been largely limited to techniques developed within the microelectronics industry. The micromachining of silicon may be done by one or a combination of methods, including but not limited to: photolithography (e.g. UV, x-ray, e-beam, ion-beam), dry physical etching (e.g. ion etching/sputtering, laser ablation), dry chemical etching (e.g. with a reactive gas), combined dry physical and chemical etching (e.g. reaction ion etching), wet chemical etching and LIGA. Furthermore, the properties of silicon (room temperature brittleness, poor creep resistance at □600° C., high thermal conductivity, modest melting point, biochemical incompatibility, etc.) make silicon-based microdevices unattractive for a number of potential applications. New fabrication methods capable of yielding self-assembled, non-silicon microdevices in a massively parallel fashion are needed to allow for a much wider range of commercial applications.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a novel approach for converting 2- or 3-dimensional, synthetic (non-naturally-occurring) micro- and nano-templates into new materials with a retention of shape/dimensions and morphological features. The ultimate objective of this approach is to mass-produce micro- and nano-templates of tailored shapes through the use of synthetic or man-made micropreforms, and then chemical conversion of such templates by controlled chemical reactions into near net-shaped, micro- and nano-components of desired compositions.